In Lunenburg, grown-ups botch youth football

Let's call this play for what it is: A group of dumb grown-ups is penalizing a 12-year-old boy for being too smart.

Michael Nowd has played youth football for eight years, most of that time with the same group of boys who make up the Lunenburg Bengals. Michael is a captain of the close-knit group, which is enjoying a great season.

He's also academically gifted, and in the second grade he was skipped to the third. But he continued to play with his age group, and this year his team is 3-1 and likely headed for the playoffs.

Now, though, in mid-season and with four games left, Michael was told he can't finish his final season with the team. An anonymous complaint was lodged with the league, noting that the seventh-grade Bengals have an eighth-grader on their roster.

Never mind that Michael is no bigger than the rest of his teammates, and younger than half of them. Never mind that his parents have noted every year on his registration form that Michael skipped a grade some years ago, and he's always been deemed eligible. (Ironically, the league places an emphasis on academics, so Michael's report card is part of the application.)

Unlike Pop Warner, which places kids by age and weight, the American Youth Football league places players by grade. And according to the AYF, rules are rules. Except no one can recall a rule about kids skipping a grade, only about being held back. To further complicate matters, Lunenburg doesn't have an eighth-grade team.

"The national board is standing firm," said Steve Powell, coach of the Bengals, who has exchanged a flurry of emails with the Central Mass Youth Football and Cheerleading Conference, the local arm of ATF. "As of now, they're not bending. The AYF is missing the boat. This is a unique situation."

But kids often understand unfairness better than adults. Two days after coach Powell was notified Sept. 12 of a problem with Michael's eligibility, the boy showed up anyway for a game against Leominster. The opposing team had no problem allowing Michael to play, so he did.

By the next week, however, the conference was warning that if Michael takes the field again, the Bengals coach could be banned and the team could be suspended next season. The boys and their parents held a team meeting, and the message was clear: If Michael can't play, nobody plays.

But then Michael, their team captain, spoke up.

"It's not about me," the 12-year-old told his teammates. "It's about the team. Play the game."

So the Bengals played while their captain watched from the sidelines, and they handily beat Maynard, 25-7.

Their next game is Sunday against Nashoba, and the team is still hoping that the AYF relents. Coach Powell said they've even offered to forfeit any post-season play if Michael can take the field.

"It sounds goofy, but we're a family," said Michael's mom, Dianne Nowd. "The support for Michael is completely blowing my mind. This kid lives and breathes football. This is his team."

Ms. Nowd has offered an eminently reasonable solution: The AYF grants Michael a waiver to finish the season, and then makes a specific ruling for students who skip a grade. What possible harm would that do? Why make an innocent boy suffer because the league dropped the ball?

"They've deemed him eligible for years," Ms. Nowd said. "Now, 25 kids are having a season that's being destroyed by a bunch of adults who made mistakes."

Coach Powell described Michael as a consummate team player who only wants to finish the season.

"The AYF says it's all about the kids," he noted. "I don't know why someone would want to take this season away from a kid."